Mustafa al-Kadhimi: Prime Minister of Iraq at the time of Lockdown

Iraq’s Parliament, which is facing economic crisis and Corona virus, has finally given its consent to the new government after months of agitation.

After Wednesday’s vote, former intelligence officer Mustafa al-Kadhimi has sworn in as the Prime Minister.

Kadhimi is the third person nominated to replace Adel Abdul Mahdi.

He tweeted, “Our goal is the security, stability and prosperity of Iraq.”

However, Kadhimi will not start her tenure with a full cabinet.

Political groups are still deliberating on the names of ministers of main departments like Oil and Foreign Ministry.

While the MPs have rejected the elected leaders of Kadhimi for ministries like trade, justice, culture, agriculture and migrant affairs.

The United States and the United Nations have welcomed the formation of a new government.

But he has also appealed to Kadhimi to consider the problems of Iraq soon.

Who is mustafa al-kadhimi

53-year-old Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who hails from the Shia community, is considered a politically independent and rational leader.

He is a former journalist who has spent a long time in exile in Britain and Iran under Saddam Hussein. He has been writing openly against Saddam Hussein during the days of exile.

But after the change of power, he worked in the Iraq Intelligence Department.

From the year 2016 till the end of the last month, he has been the head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. At the end of his tenure in this department, he was given the responsibility of forming a new government.

But Mohammed Allawi and Adnan al-Zurfi withdrew their names after being unable to muster the required majority in Parliament.

At the same time, Kadhimi managed to get the support of big political groups.

Along with this, he is also considered the choice of America and neighboring country Iran.

But he too had to compromise many times for the election of ministers.

What are the challenges facing Kadhimi?

On Wednesday, Kadhimi spoke to MPs saying that his government will work on finding solutions instead of creating challenges for Iraq.

Before Coronavirus arrived in Iraq in March 2020, thousands of people marched on the streets of Baghdad to protest on the issue of unemployment, corruption, foreign interference and dislocation in public services.

During the protests that continued for five months, more than five hundred protesters were killed by security forces and unidentified gunmen.

All the demands of these protesters included the condition of change in Iraq’s political system.

This system allocates positions among political parties on the basis of racial and community identity. This begins the practice of corruption and protecting the interests of the particular class.

Kadhimi has sworn that his government will soon hold elections and take action against those who killed protesters.

Kadhimi must also deal with the Kovid 19 epidemic because 102 Iraqi civilians have died due to it so far. Because Iraq’s health system has limited capabilities.

And Iraq is already reeling from the economic downturn created by the fall in global oil prices.

What can the government do?

Oil sales account for ninety percent of the Iraqi government’s revenue. In such a situation, the challenge is to give salary to those who work in public institutions in front of Kadhimi.

The officers of the previous government were considering cutting benefits and allowances of the officers involved in the civil service.

The World Bank has estimated that this year the economy of Iraq will contract by 9.7 percent and this is the worst annual performance for Iraq since 2003.

Meanwhile, the jihadist organization Islamic State has also increased its attacks, which seems that it is in favor of taking advantage of this opportunity. Because most of the security personnel are engaged in epidemic prevention at this time.

Iraq and the United States are going to participate in a strategic dialogue in the coming month.

Relations between the two countries had deteriorated following the assassination of Iranian Shia General Qasim Suleimani and the assassination of a Shia Iraqi combatant commander.

In response to this, Iran also targeted the military bases of Iraq where the US Army was staying. But the fighters were held responsible for this.

The Iraqi parliament voted for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq after the drone attack.

But this new decision is yet to be implemented.

What reactions about the new government?

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated the new government by talking on the phone with Kadhimi.

Pompeo has also told that the US has allowed Iraq to buy electricity from Iran for 120 days to come.

At the same time, a special representative of the United Nations Pluschart has requested Kadhimi to form the cabinet.

He also told Kadhimi that there is a war in front of him for which there is no time to prepare for it.